If you are looking for some good beer in AC, this is a place to stop at. The only problem is this is the worst location a bar has ever been in - in a food court. It is surrounded by a wire fence to give you that caged in feeling. The stools are metal tractor seats (uncomfortable). The noise is overwhelming as there is nothing to absorb the sound (all tile and hundreds of people milling around in the food court area).

But the beer - 52 taps, all the usual macros but a nice selection of East Coast micros, including DFH, Weyerbacher, Lancaster Brewing, Victory, and some popular brands as Sierra Nevada (including Celebration), Magic Hat, and Abita. Over 100 bottles to choose from too. A decent beer menu will help you quickly navigate the offerings. The selection score was not given a 5 since there was no real "unique" offerings on tap, other than DFH Pumpkin. The bartender was reasonably knowledgable, but spent a lot of time talking to customers while others were waiting for drinks. Didn't try the food, but heck - I was sitting in a food court !

Popped in here while on vacation with the not-quite-inlaws in OC. Impressive taplist and bottle selection, really first-rate. An amazing list of micros and imports. The atmosphere, quite frankly, sucks...I love a nice cozy bar feeling and this place is just the opposite. It's right in the middle of a stretch of eating establishments and stores in the middle of a casino, with only a little railing seperating the bar from the walkway. The service was pretty bad as well. Took a while to get the bartenders attention, and she knew nothing about the beer. People next to me asked about this beer or that and her response was "I don't know, I just drink Budweiser". I ended up doing that part of her job for her. Also took her and a coworker about 4 minutes to find a bottle of Rochefort 10° for my ladyfriend...to their credit they did warn us that it's expensive. The food I had (nachos) was rather bland and uneventful. You'd do better hitting the deli next door I believe.

So I finally found the place after walking through the casino, going down the escalator, passing up on Hooters despite the two waitresses standing at the front, and walking through the Food Court--I mean Marketplace. I got used to the open feeling after taking my seat. I even got to watch a rather absurd parade of showgirls, drummers, and wholesome-looking families.

Speaking of my seat, I had trouble grappling with the idea of sitting for a long while and enjoying a few beers while planted on a bike seat, but I was comfortable nonetheless. It seems the atmosphere of the place was more a matter of my getting used to it. Atmosphere is something I rarely care about anyway, so I'm not that hard to please.

The selection and quality of the beers were phenomenal. I didn't even take into account my expectations because I didn't have any. The 90-minute IPA hit the spot. The Aventinus and Schneider Weisse were better there than at Ludwig's in Philadelphia. I tried the Aecht Schlenkerla smoked wheat for the first time, and I wondered at the flavor reminiscent of barbecue potatoe chips. Smuttynose Brown Dog on tap and McChouffe, De Dolle Dulle Teve, and DFH 120-Minute in bottles, and I was off to the moon.

I was enchanted by the beer goddess behind the bar. She knew nothing about the beer, but I didn't care one bit. Any time I asked for a new beer, I pictured little black and white cartoon characters playing the fiddle in her brain. Similar to those we see in Homer Simpson's brain when he's thinking really, really hard.

I didn't even try the food because I had already eaten about 25 pieces of sushi and pork gyoza before driving to AC.

I have been coming here since the first day they opened last May. I did not expect a lot when I had heard the owner was the franchisee of all the Hooters, but I was pleasantly surprised by the selections they chose with the help of Hunterdon Distributing. I got to know Doug Carlin right away and began to feed him info on good beers for future sale. He picked right up on it and we've been friends ever since. They are very receptive on bringing in new itwms. They originally wanted to keep a static menu, but I talked them into a dynamic one instead making room for seasonals and specials. Doug and Matt have done a fantastic job of keeping up with new things, though Hunterdon hasn't always been quick with delivery. We are now working on our second event. We had a Firkuin Friday recently with Heavyweight Stickenjab and Zum Uerige Sticke. We had a great night . Both guys are impressed with BA and we hope to have a BA event there before the summer is over.
Service depends a lot on how busy they are and who is serving. Also, many of the servers have been enthusiastic about learning the beers, others, as said before, just there for a paycheck. But I overlook the faults as it is my only good local(besides Tun Tavern) and I strive to make it better through constructive ideas with management.
Matt & Doug will be more than happy to take time out to talk to you as their time permits. Just ask for them when there. I also have a page on my website for them www.markc.haynie.com.
Looking forward to meeting some of you there. I am there several times a week. So come to Atlantic City and see what it's like!
Cheers!

After reading the reviews and seeing the pictures of the taps, I made this a destination while at the shore further south. The atmosphere is a little strange for a beer bar, but that is kind of out of the establishment's control. It had some things going for it like the blues band playing in the marketplace on a Tuesday at lunch time but the beer is the attraction here.

Each beer was served in a pint glass, which is a little different. The wife was unhappy because she likes smaller glasses so she can try different varieties. Luckily, tasters are forthcoming for anything that you want to try. The beer was all poured properly, and the barmaid was good to look at.

The service from the barmaid, however, was a little spotty. Again, we were fortunate that the manager was there. Matt McGee is a very knowledgeable beer man and talked with us about the selection for quite a while.

Speaking of selection there were 50 taps although at least one, unfortunately Heavyweight's Pekuno's Hammer, was out. There were two heavyweights, 3 DFH, including 90-minute IPA which was great, Rogue Dead Guy, SNPA, an Otter Creek, Allagash White, an Abita, 3 from Belgium, 9 from Germany, including Aventinus, 7 or 8 from the UK, and Hitachino from Japan. There were only two macros on tap, although a couple customers were drinking them. The customers are friendly as are the managers.

We also met their "Beer Guy" Doug Carlin, another great beerhead. There is a good bottle selection, which claims to have over 100. I didn't count but there were a few Trappists, some Lambics, including a nice geuze, and a couple more Hitachino. The bottles are not cheap. The Rochefort was selling for $12, which I passed on.

There are bar munchies, which we didn't try. It is a short list. There is also a Deli with a window in the bar. I would recommend that you eat before going or find some other food outside. The woman working the counter didn't know what a hoagie was, asked what kind of bread someone wanted with their corned beef special and then delivered it dry, and made an Italian sub with meat, cheese, and oil--no lettuce, tomato, onions, or peppers. The bread looks like it was imported from someplace far away and shipped by boat.

I loved the bar, though, and Firewaters is building two more although I can't remember where. The manager said that there is a big difference in the beer lineup between the Firewaters in Glen Mills and the one in AC. It has to do with availability. I highly recommend stopping in if you're in AC.

Well I was in AC so I figured I had to hit this place to get some good brews in the system before trudging off to the casinos. The bar is part of the "marketplace" area of Tropicana. Feels like a mall kinda place. The bar area is fenced off with wroughtiron gates and there are many tables and chairs spaced around. Took a seat at the bar which is a typical horseshoe shaped bar.
The place was rather quiet since it was Good Friday and only 3:00 in the afternoon but I had a sense that it gets crazy.
There are 50 taps and 101 bottles. Easy to read menu fills you in on what they have and what is new. Great mix of locals and regionals mixed with quality imports. Of course some macros present as well.
SOme brews on tap we La CHouffe, Hitachino, Heavyweight brews, DFH 90 minute.
There were also quite a few corked belgians in the cooler. I ordered a brew and the bartender told me it was pricey, $8 for a hitachino ale I agreed to pricey and got a weyerbacher blithering idiot. Surprised when it came ina pint glass, then I remembered reading that everything here does. Fine, so not proper glassware, but the bartender did know her brews. They had Beamish, Guinness, and Murphys on Nitogen. One guy asked me what a white ale was and when I explained it to him he said oh thanks and ordered a bottle of BUD! JEEZ! why even ask?

The food is from the deli next door which I didnt sample but seemed like good prices and selection. If you are in AC you need to stop here cause I didnt see anything else similar the rest of my stay.

Located in the Tropicana Hotel and Casino, I expected this to be a bar with a ot of bark and not a lot of bite. Boy, was I wrong.

Atmosphere - Kind of tough to distinguish...it is, after all, a casino crowd. Everyone was having fun, including myself, mostly because I was winning. Most people asked what was reccommended and then ordered Michelob Ultra, but all the more good beer for me. Slots could be heard in the distance. A nice looking bar.

Quality - Very high considering what I thought it'd be like. Everything was done pretty well.

Service - Could have been better. Empty beers tend to sit alone for a while. You would figure at a place where people are dying to emty their pockets it'd be better service, but even three bartenders struggled to keep everyone filled up.

Selection - Lots of great beers on tap and in bottles (Dogfish 120 min for $12). I was pretty shocked at the overall selection. Very many good craft brews from all over the world. Impressive to say the least!

Food - From the deli next door. I had a club sandwich. I felt it was quite good. The deli food is pretty darn good. No problems here.

Overall - I thought i'd see some local flavors and then macro city, but this place was very well-stocked. If you head to the Trop, you MUST hit Firewater's. It's a pretty good place to enjoy some brews.

I told Steve that I wasn't going to be able to make his wedding. It's in Florida and it's during my Western PA work stint. To fly from Pittsburgh to NYC on a Friday, NYC to Florida on Saturday, back to NYC on Sunday and then back to Pittsburgh on Monday is just too much. He was cool about it but it was a given that I was expected at his bachelor party in Atlantic City. I hadn't been down to AC in about 20 years and there is supposedly a beer scene so I figured I'd better head down early...
Firewaters is located in the Tropicana Hotel in an indoor mini strip mall, kind of. More like a handful of "Boardwalkish" novelty stores. Anyway, here's this bar just down the row from active "casinoing". They're touting 50 drafts (1/2 American & 1/2 imports) and 101 bottles. The selection was most impressive. Some good regionals (Flying Fish Summer Farmhouse, Victory Fest & Weizenbock, Weyerbacher Autumn, Dogfish Head Punkin) to be found, plus Allegash, La Chouffe and it's very unusual that you would find Guinness, Murphys and Beamish all being served. A very good bottled selection as well. All 4 Caracoles, Mc Chouffe, Le Coq Imperial, Kwak, Rochefort 8 & 10, Hansen Oude Kriek & Mead the Gueze, Sam Smiths, Kelpie & Froach Heather, etc. plus Heavyweight, Weyerbacher, Victory, Troegs, Smuttynose.
So, the beer selection is very good but the service was spotty at best. I got my Dogfish Punkin slushy in a big frosty glass and I wasn't too damn happy about it and the bartender just didn't seem to know boo about beer. Lots of traffic here, but more the casino crowd than the beer enthusiast.

went down to ac to check out the borgata and the new marketplace at the trop, which boasts this place as one of it's new additions. walk in and you're slammed in the face with their wall of 45 (i think) taps. nice variety here: dogfish, heavyweight, victory, troegs, smuttynose, sierra, rogue, just to name a few micros. plenty of imports on tap as well. 101 bottles are touted as well, and it seems that they rotate them on a fairly regular basis. unfortunately they didn't have the tupper's ale that i ordered, but i happily settled for a rogue mocha porter as my second choice. service was great as well. my only complaint is that you're in a bar, but not really. it's not enclosed completely and there's a decent amount of other nonsense going on around you. that and there were too many people walking up ordering shots or bud, coors, etc, but what can you do? overall, a great little place that i'll definitely be sure to hit on my next trip back to the trop.

Wandered in on a hot Saturday afternoon, and was pleasantly surprised by the great "wall 'o taps" facing me. Had a sublime pint of fresh Old Engine Oil which hit the spot like nothing else could, after walking the boardwalk (followed by a Jever Pilsner & Mc Chouffe Golden Ale). Clean bar, subdued lighting made for a decent atmosphere, but the two detractors here were the din of the surrounding deli/surrounding eating establishments and sub-par lounge singer/keyboard player in the small kiosk outside the bar, and more importantly the lack of beer-knowledgeable staff. The two female bartenders on duty had no interest (or information) in the beers offered..just there for the paycheck it seemed. A great, and sorely needed thing in A.C., where bland macrobrews rule...I just hope it lasts & the quality and the freshness of the brews offered can last.

Firewaters is just a bit down the hallway from the Hooters inside the Tropicana. When I heard they had 50 beers on tap I figured it would be made up mostly of the usual suspects such as Bass, Guinness, Sam Adam's, etc., but I was pleasantly surprised! There were a few basics (Stella Artois, Heineken, Harp) and they did include Coor's Light (the only domestic macro); but the expected Guinness had been replaced by Beamish, and John Courage made a nice replacement for the all-too-common Bass. There were five fairly local beers including Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot and Hunterdon's Jersey Gold, as well as a few unusual imports including Hitachino Nest HefeWeizen, Einbecker Pils, and Reissdorf Kolsch.

The bar itself doesn't serve any food, but you can grab something from the deli next door (which they own). I had a cheese hoagie that was slathered in mayonnaise and topped with a piece or two of lettuce and some small tomatoes. It was a bit soggy, and for $6.50 I felt a bit put out. But hey, everything is expensive in the casino!

The service at the bar was very friendly, but not very knowledgeable; and the beer menu was riddled with errors (misspellings, beers from Belgium listed as English, etc.).

The atmosphere, however, was detracting. It's located in what's a little bit like a food court (bier garten?) and while I tried to pick out some of the more subtle notes in my JW Lee's Harvest ale a clown performed in the hallway behind me. And the lighting is a bit odd. Firewaters also has a martini bar that's sectioned off but entirely visible. The cool blue light emanating from the darkness on my right was greatly contrasted by the bright lights of the hallway to my left. My buddy and I moved over to the "wall of taps" but it was even noisier there next to the deli (which was busy with long lines).

Still, I got to try a few beers I hadn't had before and enjoyed talking with some other beer aficianados while there. If I end up having to spend some time waiting around in the casino I'll be sure to plant myself there, otherwise I'll look for a bar with a little more character - even if they have less beers!